Ray Kelly showed up at the City Council's Committee on Public Safety yesterday to talk NYPD and it wasn't all about that bullet proof boat. He was also there to talk about the department's budget for the rest of 2011 and for fiscal year 2012. And in order to bring the department into line with the city's expectations the NYPD may have lower its headcount a smidge, or at least not hire any new officers for awhile.

In theory the NYPD is supposed to reach a "peak headcount" of 35,367 officers in 2012 (it reached its highest peak, 40,710 officers, in 2001-2002). But in order to do that the department will need to be able to fund new officers to replace those who leave the force, something the department isn't quite ready to do right now. "We're not certain now," Kelly said yesterday. "We haven't sent out any notices—let's put it that way—in terms of hiring recruits."

But refraining from hiring new officers isn't the only option the department is exploring to keep its costs in fighting form. They're also planning on going up against the Patrolman's Benevolent Association (PBA)—because going against unions is so hot right now—to have the city's contract with officers tweaked such that the existing voluntary vacation pay option for officers who work a week of annual leave would be scrapped (which the department estimates would "yield a savings of $4.2 million in Fiscal 2012").

Kelly also used the meeting as a venue to announce that starting in 2012 the NYPD will be charging organizers of races and other athletic non-charitable events that use city streets for traffic control costs and other services incurred for shutting down the roads. The Department estimates that such fees will produce almost $3.5 million in 2012. Afterwards Kelly explained to the press that the NYC Marathon and other races are "always on Sunday, that’s our most expensive day, and I think it’s reasonable to ask the organizers who make a significant amount of money on events like the marathon to pay for some of the city costs."

With those cuts and fees factored in, along with a few more you can read about in the 47-page report below, the NYPD still will be $100 million short of the budget reductions that Bloomberg is asking all city agencies to make in case the expected aide from the State falls through.